Lyman council revokes merchant’s business license

Friday

Jan 17, 2014 at 10:34 PM

A Lyman barbershop is being forced to close after its owner was convicted of assaulting a woman at a local fast food restaurant.

By Daniel J. Grossdaniel.gross@shj.com

A Lyman barbershop is being forced to close after its owner was convicted of assaulting a woman at a local fast food restaurant.The Lyman Town Council voted to revoke the business license for Kings Row Barber & Styling, 109 Spartanburg Road, during a council meeting Friday evening.Barbershop owner Ralph Franklin O'Shields, 70, was charged with third-degree assault and battery June 30, 2013, according to online Spartanburg County court records.Town officials said O'Shields made physical contact with a woman at an Arby's restaurant and ran his hand down her neck and under her shirt after making lewd comments."I've done my time. When a man has done his time, he's paid society," said O'Shields. "You don't hold that on a man his entire life."O'Shields also said to the council that he is a longtime barber and has no other trade to get into a different profession.O'Shields also was charged with threatening to kill a Lyman Police Department lieutenant in December, but that case is still in litigation, according to court records.Mayor Rodney Turner told O'Shields he has 10 days to file an appeal on their decision.